We get inspiration to do GOD's BHAKTHI when we hear
MIRACLES that happened in SAINT's lives like EKNATH
that if our BHAKTHI, DEVOTION is as deep, pure and
full of LOVE, we can also experience GOD in our lives
like SAINT EKNATH ! We need not have any doubt on
this count.
| SAINT EKNATH |
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About Saint Eknath Shrine , Paithan |
Shrine of Sant Eknath is a religious attraction where devotees
flock during Nathshasthi to pay their respects to the great saint
at his tomb. A gala 10 day festival is held here every March to
celebrate thePaithan Yatra or Nathshasthi. Inhabitants of the
surrounding rural areas come to take part in the festivities.
-- He was born in 1533 A.D., in Paithana, the ancient city of
Pratishthana, in Maharashtra.
-- In his 12th year he went in search of his GURU, as per the
guidance he received in a SHIVA TEMPLE, to the fort in
Devgad (Devagiri, today’s Daulatabad) searching GURU
JANARDANA SWAMI.
COBRA COILS ROUND BODY
-- When Eknath was deep in samadhi, a cobra coiled round
him, which he was not aware. A cowherd boy who used to
give milk saw this.
-- As per the instructions of his GURU, he married Girija Bai
from Vijaypur, who was to prove to be one of the best
assets of Eknath’s life. Her selfless devotion, perfect
understanding and her sharing his hardships with a happy
heart marked her as a rare spouse, truly fit for a saint.
LORD PANDURANGA CLEARS DEBT
-- A celebration was conducted on the banks of river Godavari
as a mark of his guru’s birthday as well as the day he gave
him the darshan of Datta.There was serving of meals in
the afternoon, and exposition of Kathas and Kirtanas at
night.
Uddava, Ekanth’s servant, had borrowed a sum from a
landlord in his master’s name to conduct the utsava. Next
day, the landlord pressed Uddhava for repayment and
was put off by him. He got suspicious and feeling he
would never see his money back, he went straight to
Eknath and threatened him: “In Panduranga’s name, you
shouldn’t be allowed to eat until you repay your debt!”
Without feeling in the least put out, both Girijabai and
Eknath kept fasting and didn’t touch a morsel of food.
Uddhava also didn’t eat.
Legend has it Panduranga (Krishna) taking form of
Uddhava went to the landlord. It was midnight and he was
naturally much annoyed at being aroused form his sleep.
“What have you come here for, so late?”
“To return the money.”
“Can’t that wait till tomorrow?”
“But what about my master and his wife fasting?”
So, the grumpy landlord, much against his will, got up and
went out to open his shop, accepted the money and gave
a receipt canceling the debt.
The next day, the landlord feeling guilty of having caused
trouble to a great saint like Eknath, went to him and
embraced his feet. “Forgive me!” he said. But Eknath
humbly replied that he was himself at fault and would
resume eating as soon as he had repaid his debt in full.
Hearing this, the landlord turned to Uddhava and
exclaimed: “What! Didn’t you come last night to wake me
up at midnight, with the money?”
“Certainly not!” replied the nonplussed Uddhava. Eknath
went and opened his account book and there, neatly kept
between the pages, was the receipt of the landlord.
Eknath knew that it was all the doings of Panduranga and
tears came to his eyes. Seeing this, the savkar (money-
lender) again fell at the feet of Eknath begging for
forgiveness and would not relent until Eknath gave him
reassurance and peace of mind. Nothing ever ruffled
Eknath who was always even-minded and full of
compassion.
GOD's LEELA--TAKES EKNATH'S FORM SO THAT TWO
EKNATHS PRESENT AT SAME TIME ! !
-- Ramu, the mahar (an untouchable), attended Eknath’s
Kirtans and Kathas daily. His great desire was that
Eknath should one day come and have meals in his
house. So, after a Kirtana, he humbly requested him to
grace his house and partake of meals prepared by him.
Eknath answered that he would. The mahar exulted with
joy, and all the town was agog at the news. People
followed Eknath everywhere, anxious to see whether he
would honor his promise and what would the
consequences be. The stronghold of orthodoxy buzzed
with excitement.
The next day, they saw Eknath enter Ramu’s house
where the mahar and his wife placed their heads
submissively on his feet and invited him with great love
and affection to accept a seat. Eknath obliged lovingly
and ate with delight the preparations they served on a
plantain leaf. Everyone else stood watching from the
outside.
The pundits of a common accord decided to
ex-communicate him then and there and so went over
to his house to await his return, but their eyes widened
in wonder and stupefaction as an impossible sight met
them. In the house, there was Eknath himself, teaching
a chapter of the Bhagavata to his listeners!
The troupe made a round about turn and ran back to
Ramu’s house where Eknath as before, was enjoying
Ramu’s hospitality! How could he be in two places at the
same time! By which magic did he possess two bodies
and which of the two was the real Eknath?
The pundits were utterly confused and retreated in
shame. But Eknath understood Panduranga’s action to
protect his devotee and interpreted it thus: ‘God had
indeed taken my form and taught Bhagavata so that
none could cast aspersions on me.’
The people of the town were wonderstruck at the power
of such bhakti which demands nothing from God but the
sight of his hallowed feet.
LORD KRISHNA SERVED EKNATH AS SERVANT FOR
12 YEARS ! !
-- God loved his devotee so much that he even took the form
of a servant and served Eknath for 12 years. He was
called Sri Khandya and did all kinds of jobs for Eknath
and Girijibai.
A brahmin who keenly prayed for a darshan of Sri
Krishna was told by Rukmini Devi, Sri Krishna’s consort,
in a dream, that Sri Krishna was working under the name
of Sri Khandya in the house of Eknath who lived in
Paithana, and that if he wanted to see him, that was where
he should go. The first person he met on arrival at
Paithana was a servant going to fetch water from the river
and he asked him the whereabouts of Eknath’s house. The
man who was none other than Sri Khandya, pointed the
house to him. Eknath received him with great joy and
asked him who he was, from where he came and what he
wanted.
“I come from Dwaraka and have come here to have a
darshan of God.”
“God is everywhere, omnipresent. He lives through all
creatures, wherever you turn and look, there is but God.”
“Please, do not take offense, my Lord,” said the brahmin,
“but I know all this Vedantic stuff by heart, back-wards and
forwards. I am fed up with it and what I want is to
see the Lord in his saguna or form-aspect; that is why I
came from so far.”
“But how do you expect to see him here?”
“Haven’t you got one Sri Khandya on the premises?
Please send for him!”
“Oh, yes, Sri Khandya just left to fetch water.”
The brahmin recollected that he was the very one he had
met and who had showed him the house. Then he turned
to Eknath, a significant look in his eyes. “God is here as
Sri Khandya!” Eknath called and called but no one came.
Uddhava said: “He was here just a moment ago.”
Girija commented: “After placing the water vessels, he
went into the puja room.”
But there was no trace of the man anywhere.
Eknath understood and took the brahmin into the worship
room and prayed intensely to Panduranga. The room
gradually lit with glowing effulgence and the form of Sri
Krishna, resplendent with love and compassion, appeared
before them. Eknath and the brahmin shed tears of joy
and the Lord having blessed them, returned to his form-less
state. The brahmin thanked Eknath profusely and then left
for Dwaraka.
“There is no bar on caste, colour, sex or age,” Eknath would
say “when it comes to the worship of Hari.” “God exists in
all souls and one should behave alike with all.”
SRADDHA FEEDING OF MAHARS
-- Once Eknath was to feed brahmins on the occasion of the
Sraddha of his father. Girija bathed early and with
Uddhava’s and Sri Khandya’s help, started cooking.
One among the mahars passing by in the street outside
said: “Hmm! smells good, some nice food is being
cooked.” And another added: “Such food is not for the
like of us, so pass on!”
Eknath having heard their remarks asked Girijabai:
“Some mahars passing by have a desire to eat as they
smelt the aroma of cooking; shall we offer them this
food and can you then cook again for the others?”
“There is no difficulty at all,” replied the good wife.
“Have I ever refused you anything? Whatever comes
to your mind is right.”
Eknath sent Uddhava to invite all the mahars of the
town to the feast. They filled the place to capacity and
took their meals on plantain leaves neatly spread on
the freshly washed floor, decorated with colourful
rangolis (coloured powder designs). Eknath seeing
the Lord in his guests, served them lovingly. When
they left, Girija got the floor washed a new and made
fresh rangoli designs. After a bath, as was the custom,
she started cooking all over again. But not a single
brahmin made an appearance. Wherever Uddhava
went to remind them of the feast, he met with curses:
“Is this Bhanudas’ great grandson whose life seems to
serve no other purpose than that of destroying dharma!”
Eknath went to request them in person: “The first food
was cooked for you but as the mahars desired it, I gave
it to them. We bathed, washed and purified the place
and cooked anew. Please come now and enjoy the
food of the Sraddha”
ANCESTORS OF SRADDHA PHYSICALLY APPEARED
“You who are so well learned,” they replied scornfully,
” go and feed your ancestors. We won’t have any of
such food served us after the mahars having sat first.
So go now, and let your ancestors eat and enjoy it!”
Then Sri Khandya stepped for-ward and told the
Brahmins: “Yes indeed, they will certainly come and
enjoy the food!”
Then he took Eknath by the hand and led him indoors
and there, Eknath’s face lit up with joy at the wonderful
sight: On the seats neatly placed on the polished floor,
sat his ancestors, his guests!
Eknath closed his eyes and prayed to Panduranga and
bowing to them he began to serve them all.
The obdurate brahmins, observing this from the door,
went home silently reflecting on Eknath’s principles
which had utterly escaped their limited understanding.
STONE BULL(NANDI) EATS GRASS
In Paithana, there was a sannyasin whose habit it was to
prostrate before everybody. He was a slightly eccentric
devotee of God who liked to salute God in the form of
whoever he met on the road. They called him Dandavat
Baba.
As he passed one day by the carcass of a donkey, some
children asked him: “Dandavat Baba, why don’t you also
prostrate to the dead donkey?” Obliging them, the Baba did
so and to everyone’s amazement, the animal came back to
life, got up and romped away. The news of it reached Eknath
who felt concern for the sannyasin.
Eknath met Dandavat Baba & told him that people will
pester him to revive dead people
Eknath then spoke about the ideal of sannyasins who have no
ies in this world and for whom life and death are the same
since they are identified with the soul which lives in its infinite
state and suggested he give up his own body, by taking
Mahasamadhi. This suited the Dandavat Baba well and he
accepted his idea with great relief.
Eknath was forthwith branded as the killer of a brahmin. No
matter how he tried to clear himself, they wouldn’t listen. They
held a meeting in front of a Siva temple and Eknath
repeated what he had said so many times and over before:
“I did not force him and God is witness that I am not guilty.”
“Right,” cried their spokesman, “If God is witness to your
innocence, let us see you feed fodder to this Nandi bull
(Siva’s vehicle). If God causes the bull to eat the grass, you
will be exonerated, not otherwise!”
How foolish, thought Eknath, but if this were the wish of his
beloved Panduranga, well then let Panduranga deal with
this in his own way. He took the fodder from the pundit’s
hands and walked up to the bull. The pundits laughed. They
had seen many miracles in Eknath’s time and life, but this
was something outside the pale of any.
Eknath humbly bowed to the stone Nandi, patted him gently
on the head and offered him the fodĂder, and yes, he
opened his mouth, licked and ate the fodder, got up and
trotted away, and finally disapĂpeared into the Godavari.
GOD PROVES FEEDING EKNATH IS EQUAL TO
FEEDING 1000 BRAHMINS
There came an old woman who approached Eknath with a
request. She had always had a great desire to feed one
thousand brahmins; but from wealth she had come into
poverty and could not afford the feast. So would Sri Eknath
whom she considered equal to a thousand brahmins, come
to her house and accept an invitation to a meal?
Eknath told her of his promise to his son not to go anywhere
for food but all the same said he would come. Hari Pandit
who was consulted, felt pity for the old woman and asked her
if it would be all right if he himself cooked the food at her
place. This would save Eknath from breaking his vow. She
said she wouldn’t mind.
The next day, Hari Pandit cooked in the widow’s little kitchen
and then the old lady served both Eknath and Hari Pandit who
sat side by side. Hari Pandit however noticed that the old one
had surreptitiously placed a small vessel of a preparation she
had made, on Eknath’s plantain leaf. He resented it but kept
his peace.
When they both got up to wash their hands, Eknath, pointing
to the leftover leaves,told his son: “Let us spare the old lady
the trouble of removing them, so please do it yourself.”
Hari Pandit obligingly bent down to remove his father’s leaf
when he found a second below the first; he thought two leaves
had been placed there by mistake so he removed both. But a
third one appeared and then a fourth and so forth. Hari felt
weary and counted a thousand when the fresh appearance
of leaves stopped.
THREE THIEVES BECAME BLIND & THEIR EYESIGHT
RESTORED
Three thieves crept into the inside rooms of EKNATH'S house
and collected whatever pots and articles they could lay their
hands on. They piled them near the door and went in for more.
Then calamity struck.
One after the other the thieves became blind. Groping around
for the way out, they stumbled upon the heap of pots and the
noise woke up Eknath who came to see what the trouble
was about. Hearing his footsteps the thieves who had
realized that they had committed a crime by robbing the house
of a saint for which they had become afflicted with blindness,
cowered and huddled together.
Eknath called them and asked the reason of their fear and all
three fell at his feet and told him of their woe. He immediately passed his hands over their eyes and they
regained their sight. He called Girijabai and asked her and
Uddhava to feed them and then sent them away with all the
pots they had stolen. The thieves, overĂwhelmed by his
goodness and generosity, fell again at his feet and swore that
they would never steal again.
Seeing their change of heart, Eknath blessed them and
explained: “God has come into my house in your forms, so go
now, take these pots and start life a new, adhering to the
honest path.”
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